A Caged Songbird
by The Unknown Smile
Summary: The zombie apocalypse has begun. Everyone has formed their little groups, gotten their weapons, and are now living whatever life they have left. But when a group of eight gets caught by another, all hell slowly breaks loose as they try to escape their prison.


**A Caged Songbird**

**~Prologue~**

"_I want you to promise me something. Can you do that?"_

"_I... guess so... what am I promising to?"_

"_That no matter what happens, you'll keep going. Don't let anyone bring you down. Because if that happens, you'll end up like one of them. Can you promise me you'll always be strong?"_

"_Of course! And can you promise me something, too?"_

"_Sure. What?"_

"_Promise me that you'll never leave me?"_

"_I... Yeah. I promise."_

"_Yay!" The teen tightly hugged the male in front of her, both just standing there in an embrace that seemed to last forever. About a minute went by, before they broke apart, smiling at each other as the sun started to set._

A girl sat in the corner of the old truck, her knees brought up to her chest as she held dog tags in her bloodied hand, hazel eyes dull and broken. She ignored the bickering of the others. She blocked out everything as she stared at the tags.

"_You promised you wouldn't leave me!" she cried, trying to wipe her tears away, though they were only replaced with new ones._

"_I know. And I'm sorry," he coughed, staggering around, trying to keep his balance. "I didn't want to break the promise. But I couldn't help it."_

"_You're the only family member I have left! And now you're gonna die too!" she wailed, rushing forward and embracing him, not wanting to ever let go. "Why does everyone leave me?! Why did you have to get bit?!"_

"_Dee-Dee, I'm sorry," he repeated, slowly wrapping his arms around her as well. "But this is how it has to be. Now, I need you to do something for me."_

"_W-what?" she asked, looking up at him with bloodshot eyes._

"_I need you to kill me. Before I can turn," he told her. He figured she would object, but not like this._

"_No!" she screeched, shoving him backwards and sobbing even harder. "I can't do that! I refuse to do that! I can't kill you!"_

"_If you think about it this way, I'm already dead," __he tried, giving her a sad smile. "Please? It'll be a lot better for me!"_

"_But... Fine... I'll do it." _

"_Thank you. Just make sure you hit my brain. I don't wanna feel a thing."_

"_Yeah... got it..."_

_The girl grabbed her sniper rifle, aiming it at the boy's head, tears nearly blinding._

"_I love you, Jennifer," he spoke, his last words ripping right through her heart._

"_I love you, too, Steven," she choked out. Finally, she pulled the trigger. __The gunshot went off with a loud bang, followed by the tall male falling to the ground, blood seeping from the bullet hole that was embedded in the middle of his forehead. The girl fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "G-goodbye, big brother. I'll miss you."_

"Jennifer? You okay?" The girl looked up, her hazel eyes meeting dark brown.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Just thinking," she replied quietly, going back to staring at the dog tags.

"Thinkin' 'bout what?" he asked, scooting a bit closer to her. She shrugged.

"Just thinking," she replied. The two didn't talk anymore. They just sat there, listening to others. Finally, the truck they were being held captive in came to a stop. Footsteps could be heard making their way towards the back where they resided. Jennifer quickly put the dog tags on, hearing it clink together with the other three necklaces she had.

"Alright, c'mon!" a man said harshly, glaring at the eight friends who slowly got closer to one another. "Get the fuck out! We don't have all day!"

"You don't have to shout," Jennifer, or Frau as she went by to not be confused with her friend, snapped as she climbed out. The man just glared at her.

"Better watch your mouth, Missy," he hissed, shoving her with the rifle in his hands. "'fore I decide to smack ya!"

"Don't touch her!" One of the men in the truck had gotten up and now rushed forward. Before he could do anything, he was struck with the other man's rifle, landing hard on the ground.

"Danny!" Frau quickly rushed over to her friend, trying to shake him awake, though she was pulled away when a woman exited the vehicle.

"Out! All of you!" snapped the man, tapping his foot impatiently. "Issac won't wait forever! And I don't wanna hear 'em bitch and complain to me about how slow you guys are!"

"We're coming. Just calm down," Jessica spoke calmly, tying her blond hair back into a pony tail.

Soon, the rest filed out, everyone, excluding Danny, walking in a straight line behind the one with the rifle.

"Allow me to introduce ourselves," a woman with blue eyes spoke, a slight smile on her face. "I'm Amy, and that's Damien. Who are all of you?"

"Why should we tell _you_?" A young boy questioned, glaring up at Amy. "You're trying to hurt us!"

"I just wanna know y'all names so I can properly talk to ya!" she replied, pouting a bit.

"Just tell her your fuckin' names so she'll shut up!" Damien hissed, glaring back at the group.

"I'm Alisha, that's Thomas, Jennifer, Frau, Alex, Vyvyan, Jessica, and that's Danny," Alisha motioned to the oldest, who was currently being carried on a stretcher by Jennifer and Thomas.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Amy spoke, smiling back at them. No one replied to her comment. They just continued to walk.

"Alright. This is where you're all gonna stay, got it?" Damien said, watching as they all scattered in the small, empty, cement yard. "I don't wanna hear a peep from any of you! Tomorrow, you all start working! Now, go to sleep!"

With that, Amy and Damien left, leaving the others to themselves. Jennifer and Thomas gently lowered Danny's motionless body onto the ground, Frau tossing over a spare blanket which was placed on the sleeping male.

"Think he'll be okay?" Vyvyan asked quietly, looking over at the two.

"He should be. He'll probably be tired as hell and in a lot of pain, but he should be fine," Jennifer told the child, walking over and patting his head.

"I think we should all get rest," Alex sighed, slowly making his way towards the bed. "Maybe it'll be easier in the morning."

"Hopefully. I don't feel like dealing with anymore bullshit," Frau grumbled, glaring at the door Amy and Damien had used to leave. "Can't believe that all this is happening."

"We'll just have to get through this together," Thomas told them, finding his spot and laying down. "When tomorrow comes, we'll have to brave through everything, and maybe they'll go easy on us."


End file.
